In the Shadow of the Fire
by Katniss - District Twelve
Summary: 16 year old Phoenix Blaze volunteers for her sister in the Games, meanwhile forming a strong connection with her district partner.
1. Phoenix Blaze

"Phoenix!" a voice shouted. "Phoenix!" I jump out of bed. My sister must be having nightmares again. Ever since she turned twelve, Scarlett has been dreading today. Once a year, all citizens of districts one through twelve have to got to the Reaping. At the Reaping, all children twelve through eighteen have to stand behind a rope, according to age. There are two giant glass balls full of slips of paper on a temporary stage. Each slip has a person's name on it. A person called an escort pulls a random name out of each ball. The person whose name was on the slip of paper walks onto the stage. The escort asks for applause for that year's contestants for the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games was created by the Capitol. They want the Hunger Games to remind the districts that the Capitol is stronger than them.

I walk over to my sister's bed. She looks at me, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Phoenix, it was me." I shake my head. "Scarlett, your name is in the bowl one time. There are girls who have their name in many more times than that." Scarlett pauses for a moment. "Like you?" she asks me. I sigh. "Unfortunately, yes." I gaze out the window. "We better start getting ready."

Scarlett gets out of bed and walks over to her dresser. She takes out a green dress. I walk over to my own dresser and pull out a gray dress. I dress and walk back over to Scarlett. I brush out her hair and put it into a ponytail. I brush my own hair and leave it down. We walk into the kitchen. Our mother has already laid out our breakfast- bread and a mug of leftover stew. We eat without a word.

**Not bad for my first fan fiction, huh? I would appreciate ideas for the other tributes and their mentors:D**


	2. The Reaping

Phoenix got in line with Scarlett behind her. Scarlett stood on her tiptoes to see the front of the line, and gasps. "What are they doing?" she asks, obviously horrified. "They're taking blood samples." I reply. Scarlett shudders. I step up and hold out my am for my own blood sample to be taken and wince. Scarlett reluctantly holds out her arm, and cries out.

I walk over to where the sixteen year old girls were standing. I stand by my friend Ember. She looks at me and I see my own fear reflected inside them. Not fear for myself. Fear for Scarlett.

A film is presented, the one we watch every year at the reaping, reminding us how much stronger the Capitol is than us. Then, District Twelve's escort, Anemone walked to the front of the stage and said "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" She walked over a glass bowl. "As always, ladies first!" Anemone reached into the bowl and yanked out the first slip of paper she touched. As she read the name, I suddenly felt as though I had just been stabbed with a knife. The female tribute from District Twelve was Scarlett Blaze.


	3. Goodbye

Scarlett remains in her spot; all the blood drained from her face. I am stuck in a sort of trance, thinking _no, no, you must have heard wrong. Her name was in one time! One of thousands of other names. She's only twelve years old!_

Suddenly remembering something, I snap out of my trance. "I volunteer as tribute!" I screech as loud as I can. All eyes are trained on me. I walk down the path do the stage and climb up the steps. "And what is your name?" Anemone asks me. "Phoenix Blaze." I say. I feel tears welling up in my eyes. But I will not cry. The Capitol is watching, and they will judge me as a weakling. Which I am not.

"And now it's time to choose our boy tribute." says Anemone, walking over to the second glass ball. "Griffin Heathcliff!" I look out into the crowd and see the boy chosen. He slowly makes his way down the path and up the stairs. "Let's have a round of applause to this year's tributes!" Anemone says excitedly. Nobody does, though. Silence. Somebody holds up their three middle finger up to their lips and then lifts their hand up into the air. I just stand there, stunned. This is a symbol from District Twelve, meaning goodbye to someone you love.

Peacekeepers lead us into the Justice Building. I am led into a room. I sit down on a wooden chair. Then my mother and Scarlett walk into the room. Scarlett has tears dripping down her face again and my mother is trying to hold back tears. Scarlett runs over to me and wraps me in a tight hug. "Scarlett, it's going to be okay. We'll be alright." I say softly. "Why did you do that?" Scarlett says. "I had no choice." I respond. Scarlett lets go of me and my mom walks over. "You're all she has left now." I say in a shaky voice. "Please, Phoenix. I can't lose you as well." My mother says. She means my father. He was in the Hunger Games. He won. But he made a mistake and got the Capitol angry with him. They killed him. My mother is telling me not to be foolish. And I know why she said that. When I was a child, my favorite toy was fire. Whenever my mom cooked something, I would run outside, grab a stick, and light it with the fire from the oven. My mother would run into the kitchen and put my flaming stick into a bucket of water. The weird thing is, I never got burnt.

The next person to visit me was Ember. She waked in slowly and sat down in the chair beside me. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a pin. It is a circle with a bird on the inside. Ember handed it to me. "It's a mockingjay." she tells me. Then she wordlessly gets up out of the chair and walks out the door. "Good luck." I hear her say. _Thanks, I'll need it._


End file.
